The Nutcracker
by Harlee Quinn
Summary: AU: At 10, Jolene Morrow ain't no damn girl. A rough and tough tomboy, nobody gets over on her. So what happens when the SAMCRO Princess is introduced to Charming's favorite Princess? Prequel 2 to Charming's Worst Kept Secret.


**A/N: _The Nutcracker_ is the second in a series of one-shots covering events that were mentioned, but not fully explored in _Charming's Worst Kept Secret _and _All Roads Lead to Charming_. It is mostly detailed back story.**

**On Friday, February 17, I will post a multi-chapter prequel detailing Jolene's pre-teen and teenage obsession with her future "old man", Jax Teller. Titled _First Love B.S._, pre-teen Jolene finds out that first and only love isn't easy. Waiting for Jax to come to his senses regarding his on/off again romance with Tara is pissing her off, but she is determined to hold her ground. Please make sure to sign up for Author Alerts if you're interested on learning more of Jaxene's back story.**

**If you read, please review. Thanks and enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Gemma Teller sat in the small waiting area outside the Principal's office.<p>

_Boy does this bring back memories_, Gemma thought sourly.

In spite of wanting to be anywhere but here, the Queen of Charming had decked herself out for the occasion. Wearing a skin tight white leather jacket with matching pants and a fitted burgundy tank top, Gemma looked the picture of youth and beauty and was sexy as hell, if the parade of male staff members, who found all sorts of excuses to stop by the Administration Office, was anything to go by.

Crossing her legs, Gemma pulled out from her bag a pack of cigarettes and her lighter. Just as she was about to light up, a voice to her right announced, "You're not allowed to smoke in here."

Narrowing her eyes, Gemma pulled the unlit cigarette from her mouth. "You know, for somebody who looks like they're in a shitload of trouble, you really shouldn't be such a buzzkill."

"Hey, I'm just saying." Jolene shrugged as she pointed to the "No Smoking" sign that was on the wall directly above Gemma's head.

_Boy, why did this have to happen while Dad and Uncle Elvis were away? If they were here, I know they'd understand._

Jolene had not been surprised when Gemma had shown up at the school. For the last two days, she had been staying at the Teller home while her father went on a run with J.T. and the Club. Although she missed her Dad and Uncle Bobby, Jolene had almost passed out at the notion of staying at the Teller household. Recently coming to the conclusion that one day she would be Jax Teller's old lady, Jolene looked forward to any opportunity that allowed her to spend time with him. But now that she was in trouble of what was probably ginormous proportions, Jolene just knew a lock down was in her future, thus denying her access to Jax, at least until her father got home. Her dad would more than likely congratulate her for what she'd done. Gemma, on the other hand, was feared amongst the SAMCRO children as an unwavering hard ass that could stop the heart of anyone under twelve with one of her patented death glares. Unfortunately, until her father returned to Charming, Jolene was under the sole jurisdiction of one Gemma Teller, who broke and ate the spirits of unruly children for breakfast.

Jolene hung out with Jax and his sidekick Opie every chance she got, which lately had been plenty and she preferred their company over that of anyone else's. While Jolene had always been a sociable child, she gravitated away from developing friendships with other girls, preferring to participate in the boisterous antics of the two SAMCRO princes when she wasn't underfoot at the T-M lot trying to learn as much as possible about fixing cars from her father and his brothers.

As bummed out as she was by the prospect of not being able to hang out with Jax and Opie or, for that matter, the garage, getting suspended from school would suck ass. Unlike Frick and Frack, as Uncle Elvis referred to Jax and Ope, Jolene loved school. Those two, on the other hand, had made it their mission in life to avoid going to school as much as possible without raising red flags. Even though suspension would give her extra time to hang out with her future old man, Jolene had been suspended before, in grade school, and hated the thought of missing as much as two weeks of school. And what for? Her stupid need to protect innocents—the code her father and his brothers lived by—and her need to see that justice was done when some dirtbag breached that code by laying hands on a female.

Gemma and Jolene were not alone in the waiting area. Another student, a sullen boy approximately 12 years old with violent ginger hair sat in a corner with his mother, while another girl, about 11 years old, sat alone in the opposite corner.

Gemma studied the blonde-haired girl. She was gangly, in that awkward stage that signified that puberty had started. With long straight hair in a ponytail high on the back of her head, she was decked out in the latest fashion for pre-adolescents. Gemma finally put a name to the face and had confirmation when she heard the clicking of high heels walking into the Administrative Office.

Looking up, Gemma was not surprised to see the one and only Celia Armstrong. Although Charming was a small town, it still managed to have its "elite class" and Celia Armstrong was one of them. At 35, Celia was a cool and regal blond with a stick figure considered chic and elegant among the ladies-who-lunch crowd, the primary staple of their diet being coffee and cigarettes. Married to Russell Armstrong of Armstrong Pharmaceuticals, she was also the sister of Karen Oswald, Elliott Oswald's wife. The two sisters, formerly known as the Devon Sisters of Charming, ran the set of their cronies and looked down on practically everyone who lived in Charming, including the white trash biker clan known as the Sons of Anarchy.

Walking in wearing a white Chanel suit, which although tasteful, had nothing on what Gemma was wearing, Celia stormed up to her daughter. "Veronica, what is the meaning of this? Do you realize how embarrassing it was to get pulled out of my Rotary Club meeting for this?"

Before Veronica could answer her mother, Ada Williams, the Principal's secretary opened his office door and paused in the doorway. "Good, everyone's here. Mr. O'Leary will see you now." Holding the door opened, she gestured for everyone to enter.

The Principal's Office had not changed much from the time Gemma had been a student. She should know after having been escorted to this very office too many times to count with her mother Rose, who never once sided with her daughter and was never happy about being there.

Although cluttered with bookcases groaning under the weight of their contents, the office was large and spacious and had a number of large windows to the left, which faced the school yard. An enormous oak desk was prominently displayed in the center of the room and six chairs were placed in a semi-circle before it. Standing in front of his desk was the Principal of Charming Middle School, Michael O'Leary.

Principal O'Leary had only recently replaced his predecessor Bennett Beasley, who had been the school's Principal for over 40 years. At 42, he was a very attractive single man, with wavy brown hair, and deep blue eyes.

Gemma checked out the new Principal from head to toe. Thinking of the old Principal, a short, elderly, balding man with a wide posterior, she sighed happily.

_Thank God Beasley Butt__ is gone. The old bastard would have remembered me for sure, which probably would've worked against Jolene in this situation._

Principal O'Leary's eyes widened as he got a good look at Gemma. Noticing the warm interest, Gemma decided to put her best foot forward. Walking towards the Principal, she stretched out a hand in greeting.

"Welcome to Charming, Principal O'Leary. It's nice to finally meet you, although, I must say, it's not under the best of circumstances. I'm Gemma Teller and this," waving to Jolene, "Is Jolene Morrow. I'm here representing her father, who is currently out of town on business."

The Principal graciously shook Gemma's hand and politely ignored Celia Armstrong's delicate snort at Gemma's reference to "business". "Thank you very much for coming, Ms. Teller."

"Actually, it's Mrs." Gemma replied, almost sadly, as she held up her left hand to reveal a beautiful three-carat diamond ring and matching wedding band.

_Oh, damn_, Michael sighed to himself.

As a new resident to the town, he was not fully aware of everyone's social connections and had been hoping that the sexy young woman would be unattached. But really, what had he been thinking? A woman that beautiful would definitely be off the market.

A strident voice interrupted his musings. "I'm Celia Armstrong and this is my daughter Veronica. I demand to know what this is about."

The Principal welcomed Mrs. Armstrong, although not as warmly as he had Gemma and then introduced himself to the last parent in his office, Nancy Watson and her son Brad.

Asking everyone to be seated, Principal O'Leary leaned against his desk and crossed his arms.

"To answer your question, Mrs. Armstrong, there seems to be a failure to communicate properly between these three students, which is why I invited all of you here today. I'm hoping to get this resolved, so that these children can get on with the business of learning." Principal O'Leary started. "Apparently, there was altercation, violent in nature, in the school yard this afternoon, but no one seems willing to come forth with the facts. I had hoped that by bringing the three students together, along with their parents, we might be able to get to the heart of the matter."

Silence permeated the office. "As you can see, no one is willing to talk, which is a shame, really," The Principal sighed. "Because if I can't find out exactly what happened, I'm going to have to base my decision on whether or not to suspend all three students based on past history of behavioral problems alone."

Jolene swallowed hard enough for Gemma to hear. _Crap!_ She was so screwed. Once a bully, always a bully and Jolene was about to go down for beating down the same bully she had been suspended for fighting with in the second grade. _Prick!_ Jolene loved school. She enjoyed learning and while a lot of children could take it or leave it, Jolene would hate to barred from going, especially if it wasn't her fault to begin with.

The idea of being a snitch was somewhat repulsive to Jolene. In the world she came from, there was nothing worse than a rat, but would she really be snitching if she took responsibility for her own actions, hoping that someone else—_Veronica!_—would speak up in her defense?

Jolene jumped out of her chair to face the Principal. With her hands on her hips and a fierce gleam in her eyes, at barely 4½ feet tall, Jolene looked like a little warrior. "I kicked Brad in the nuts."

Gemma could barely conceal rolling her eyes as Celia cut loose with an over-the-top gasp, her well-manicured hand flying to her throat.

"And I'd do it again 'cause he's a bully." Jolene said, looking into Principal O'Leary's eyes fearlessly, like someone with justice on her side.

"Seems to me like there's only one bully in this room." Nancy Watson retorted in defense of her son, who was still cupping his balls.

"Well, it seems to me that we haven't heard the whole story yet." Gemma replied.

"She just admitted kicking my son in the ba—privates. _She's_ the bully." Nancy said indignantly.

"There has to be a reason she kicked him. She's not some demented little freak that goes around willy-nilly kicking boys in their nutsacks."

"How would you know? You're not even her mother." Nancy said, with a disgusted curl to her lip.

_Let there never be any doubt where her son __Brad gets it from_, Gemma thought as she practically snarled at the washed out redhead.

At that, Jolene bowed her head. Here it comes. Even though Mrs. Watson was an adult, she was going to find a way to call her a bastard in front of her nemesis and the girl whose family already thought SAMCRO was a plague on Charming.

"The fact that we don't share a bloodline doesn't matter. We're still family." Gemma replied as both Celia and Nancy snorted rudely. "I know her better than you know your son, that's for damn sure. I betcha didn't even know he's a bully. A spineless bully that picks on girls younger and smaller than he is instead of picking on boys his own size. So stop nursing your balls," Gemma directed at Brad angrily. "Because we all know you don't have any."

"All right, ladies. Enough." Principal O'Leary, who was enjoying the fiery brunette's defense of the otherwise A-student, Jolene Morrow, exclaimed. "Unless anyone else would like to tell their side of the story, I'm going to be left with no choice but to suspend Jolene. I will not tolerate unprovoked violence to permeate the culture of this school." He looked around the room, noticing that every child, except Jolene avoided making eye contact with him. "I'm sorry, Jolene, but I'm going to have to—" Principal O'Leary started, but stopped at the sound of the almost-whisper coming from his left. "Can you please repeat that, Veronica?"

Clearing her throat delicately, Veronica looked up from her hands folded primly on her lap. "I said, Brad called me a 'stuck-up little bitch'."

"Veronica!" Celia gasped.

"Let her finish, Mrs. Armstrong." Principal O'Leary admonished.

"He cornered me on the playground by the monkey bars and tried to grab my . . ." She started, stopped to take a deep breath, and continued. "He tried to grab my chest and when I stopped him, he called me a 'stuck-up little bitch'. He tried again, but I pushed him away. He got mad and knocked me to the ground. He said someday somebody was going to teach me a lesson."

Jolene was watching Veronica speak with a clenched jaw, remembering the terrified look on her face. "That's when I stepped in. I heard the whole thing and so did a lot of other kids, but no one did anything to stop him. I told him to back off and he jumped up in my face, so I kicked him in the nuts. I figured that would cool his jets." Jolene smiled grimly. "It's not the first time I've clocked him in the gonads. You'd think he'd learn his lesson by now. They don't call me the 'Nutcracker' for nothing." She boasted.

Principal O'Leary coughed rather loudly trying to disguise his snort of laughter. "I see." Turning to Brad he asked, "And what do you have to say for yourself, young man?"

Brad leapt to his feet, although slowly, as he was still in some pain. "It was none of her damn business. The little biker brat had no right to stick her nose in where it didn't belong."

Gemma saw the white hot glare of anger on Jolene's face, but she held onto her mud, which impressed Gemma very much.

Jolene shot back. "Of course it was my business! You get away with crap like this all the time. If I had my way, I'd sit on your butt and get every girl in this school you've ever picked on to kick you in the nuts. I'd bet it'd be a really long line, too."

Gemma put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile of approval. _Oh, Chibs, you've created an ass-whooping little monster._

The Principal looked at Jolene's stormy green eyes. _She's a feisty one_, he thought approvingly. Although physical violence was never the solution to a problem, the Principal admired those who were unwilling to stand by and allow innocent people to be bullied or terrorized.

Turning to Brad, the Principal addressed him. "So, you don't deny that you were bothering Veronica?"

The boy blustered, realizing that he had basically admitted to his bullying and tried to retract his statements, but it was too late. Even his own mother realized how bad the actions of her son were. Judging by her now-silent and somewhat embarrassed manner, it was obvious to everyone else as well.

"Well, I have had a good long look at all three of your records and I have to say Mrs. Watson, your son does have a history of being overly physical with his fellow students. Why it has not been addressed until now is somewhat of a mystery to me. Therefore, I will ask the School Board to arrange for an evaluation of your son's psychological state." As Mrs. Watson gasped, the Principal continued. "With the pattern of abuse he's exhibited, it is best to nip it in the bud while there is still hope. Unfortunately, until I receive a report on his evaluation, I'm afraid Brad will not be allowed to return to school, so please make sure you get him tested right away."

Looking at all three of the adults in his office, Principal O'Leary said, "I cannot condone bullying. As an educator, I have a responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for all of our students. When one student shows or exhibits signs of violence, no one is safe and that will not be tolerated."

Finally, Mrs. Watson found her voice again. "And what about her?" She said angrily, pointing to Jolene. "Was her violence towards my son justified?"

Before the Principal could answer, Gemma jumped to Jolene's defense. "You realize that what your son did is akin to sexual assault? Trust me, sweetheart, he got away easy with a kick in the balls. Get him some help because the next girl he attacks may not be so lucky to have Jolene around." Stunned at Gemma's defense of her, Jolene held her breath waiting for Mr. O'Leary's response.

Clearing his throat, the Principal replied, "To answer your question, Mrs. Watson, although justified, I cannot condone violence of any kind." He turned to Jolene, who was as close to tears as she has been in a long time. "Jolene, for the next two weeks, you will be working with Miss Gillespie in the school library during lunch and recess." Shocked, Jolene tried hard to remain sullen and contrite. She loved the library! And from the twinkle in Mr. O'Leary's eyes, he knew he had just made her day.

Noticing Jolene's obvious relief, Gemma chuckled. _I've never known a kid that loved school as much as this one_._ Why can't some of that shit rub off on Jax_?

Bringing the meeting to a close, the Principal escorted all of the participants out of his office. The school was nearly empty. With the exception of several afterschool clubs, the majority of the students and staff had already left for the day.

Standing outside the school, Celia Armstrong and her daughter hesitantly approached Gemma and Jolene. Looking down at Jolene, Celia moistened her mauve-colored lips and offered coolly, "I would like to thank you for what you did for Veronica. It was very kind of you to stand up to that horrible boy on her behalf."

Jolene nodded. "It's okay. He deserved what he got."

"Mama?" For the first time since speaking up unexpectedly during the meeting, Veronica opened her mouth.

"Yes, dear?"

"I think it would be really nice if Jolene could come over sometime to play. Would that be okay?"

At a loss for words, Celia looked into Gemma's face.

_H__a, let's see you get out this one, CeCe,_ Gemma thought sarcastically.

Realizing how it would look if she said no, Celia replied, "Why, yes, dear. I think that would be a wonderful idea."

"How about Friday after school?" Veronica pressed.

"That would be fine." Celia said between slightly gritted teeth. "You know where we live?" She said to Gemma airily.

"Oh, I'm sure we can find it." Looking at Veronica, Gemma said, "I'll bring Jolene by around 4:00."

As Celia turned and headed towards her car, Veronica turned back to Jolene. "Thanks a lot. I really do appreciate what you did."

Jolene looked at the girl sheepishly. "No problem."

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Veronica asked hopefully.

"Sure, it's easy." Jolene swaggered a little, in imitation of a certain blond-headed boy she knew and loved.

"Great." Veronica smiled for the first time Jolene could ever recall seeing. "I'll see you tomorrow in school. And Jolene?"

"Yeah?"

"All my friends call me Ronnie."

"Okay," Jolene smiled. "Ronnie."

As the Armstrong's pulled out of the school parking lot in a silver BMW, Gemma looked at Jolene. "Not bad," She said to Jolene, who looked at her with amazement. "But next time, follow up with a jab to the nose. If you're going to hit a boy in the nuts, you should make sure to make him bleed, too."

As Jolene smiled and nodded, Gemma put on a pair of designer sunglasses with one hand and put her arm around Jolene's shoulder with the other. "C'mon. Let's go to Nicky's for some ice cream. After all, a girl has to keep up her strength."


End file.
